St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, with its special family ethos developed in the main through its largely boarding and communal emphases, where most of the students live-in fulltime, and in which the others are present well beyond the limits of a normal school day, makes the College a second "home" for its students in a very real way.

A wide variety of young men, individually different, from a whole range of diverse backgrounds and geographic locations, learn to live, pray, work and play together.

Lifetime friendships, important lessons in living and sharing, and qualities such as loyalty, trust and strength in adversity seem to be especially nourished in this environment, as well as a special bond between the young men and the teachers and carers who look after them.